Day Trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

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If you haven’t been to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, you really should go. Last week was my husband’s birthday, so I surprised him with a trip there. I’ve been to 45 states, so I feel comfortable saying this is one of the most beautiful museums in America. There are iconic paintings like Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter and modern artists, too. But the architecture will wow you as much as the paintings inside the building. There are walking and biking trails around the museum, and the restaurant, Eleven, was good. Here are some pictures from our lovely afternoon …

Isn’t this one wild? I took it as we drove away/ It was a gorgeous day.

One thing I love about this place is the use of natural light and nature. This is one of the hallways at the museum. It’s actually a series of buildings, some connected by bridges. Arkansas is a stunning state and this place showcases that beauty.

We have typical Ozarks weather that day. One moment it was gorgeous, the next it was cloudy, and then it was pretty again. I love the gray tones and shadows in this photo. I didn’t tone anything. All of these were shot on my iPhone. Gotta love modern technology.

The entrance to the museum. I love this silver tree. See, gorgeous weather one minute.

The restaurant has amazing natural light and good food. The menu is limited, but we both had an Ozark Harvest Salad and it was excellent. I am going to try to recreate the dressing.

Painting by Thomas Hart Benton. I love his stuff.

So many people take pictures of the building. It’s awe inspiring.

As my husband would say “Trippy cloud formation.”

That’s all I had time to download. It was a wonderful day. And the museum is FREE, so you can take the entire family and enjoy a free day of entertainment. I am proud to have this in the Ozarks.

Vegetable, Barley, Chicken Soup

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It’s bleak outside, which puts me in the mood for soup. And I’ve shared a couple of decadent dishes lately, so I thought I’d post a delicious, healthy soup today:  Vegetable, Barley, Chicken Soup.

I love this soup because it’s packed with vegetables and feels nourishing.

There are a couple ways you can shave a little prep time off. Buy a bag of cole slaw mix instead of chopping your cabbage; buy pre-cut mushrooms; precut carrots; and use dehydrated garlic instead of fresh.

This soup has a lot of ingredients, but don’t let that deter you from trying it. It’s a simple soup that on the table in 30 minutes and it’s healthy so you can feel good about feeding it to your family.  It’s packed with vegetables and we know we all need more vegetables. The barley adds bulk and fiber and helps thicken the soup.  It’s important to use quick cooking variety of barley because it only cook 15 minutes before you serve it.

The Italian seasoning and rosemary season this beautifully.

The chicken goes in at the very end, so again to save yourself prep time, chop the chicken while the soup is boiling. The same apples to the zucchini. While the first four ingredients cook down, then you can chop the zucchini.  Ok,let’s get started.

Vegetable, Barley, Chicken Soup

1 large yellow onion

2 carrots

1 ½ cups chopped white cabbage

2 stalks celery

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon dried rosemary

1 pint sliced baby portobella mushrooms

1 zucchini

2 bay leaves

1 garlic clove, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

7 cups chicken stock

2/3 cup quick cooking barley

2 ½ cups chopped, skinless rotisserie chicken

Directions:

Chop saute onion, cabbage, carrots and celery and set aside. Cut zucchini into fourths horizontally, and then slice those pieces. Slice mushrooms and set aside.

In a large stock pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add onion, cabbage, carrots and celery and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add Italian seasoning and rosemary, mushrooms, zucchini, salt and pepper and cook another 3 minutes. Add bay leaves, garlic, stock and barley and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook 12-15 minutes. While the soup cooks, chop your chicken.

Drop in chopped chicken and heat through. Serve.

Southwest Chicken Egg Rolls

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This is one of my all-time favorite indulgent recipes! This is my take on a restaurant favorite, and these are just as good. They would be perfect for a Super Bowl party or entertaining in general. A margarita pairs beautifully with these. Your guests or family will be impressed when you serve these delightful bites.

southwest eggroll

Directions

1/2 cup canned corn, drained

1/2 cup black beans, drained

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chunky salsa (a chunky salsa is a MUST)

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 cup  Campbell’s Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup

2 cups diced rotisserie chicken, skin removed

3/4 teaspoon cumin seed

3 tablespoons chives

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

Egg roll wrappers

Canola or peanut oil

Stir together the first eight ingredients. Add cilantro, if desired. Fill the egg rolls, following  the directions on the back of the egg roll wrapper package on how to roll the egg rolls. Only make about 10 and then start heating the oil. You can make the rest while the oil heats.

Add oil to a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Do not heat the oil too fast or it will brown the egg rolls.

When they are all assembled, test oil. If it bubbles when you add an egg roll, add egg rolls and fry 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve with a dipping sauce of equal parts Ranch dressing and Salsa.

Quick Posole

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If you have 15 minutes, then you can have dinner on the table. That’s right, from start to finish, this soup will only take you 15 minutes.  Here’s another piece of good news: this flavorful soup boasts only 220 calories a bowl.

Posole is a stew popular in Columbia and Mexico that is slow cooked and contains hominy. While Posole is traditionally slow cooked, I don’t have time for that so I came up with this snappy version. It’s actually inspired by a slow cooker pork posole one of my girlfriend’s makes.

It’s flavored with broth, green enchilada sauce, cilantro, cumin, salsa and then a squeeze of lime. The shredded chicken is so tender in this dish.

It’s not my best soup, but it’s very good, especially when you consider how quick it comes together.  So pop a beer and dinner will be done before you can even finish your brew (well, I guess that depends on what type of day you’ve had).

I assume everyone has a food processor, but if you don’t, then add a couple extra minutes to the cooking time (and then go buy yourself one). I have a cheap one that I paid $10 for at Walgreens or Walmart in 2000. I am not kidding. So there’s no need to save up for a good one; this has served me well. I always use it to chop onions. You only need to chop an onion and cilantro for this dish, so there’ s not a lot of chopping anyway.

Quick Posole

Makes 4 servings

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 yellow onion

1 bunch cilantro

½ teaspoon cumin seed

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

1 (15-ounce) can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 (10-ounce) can green enchilada sauce

2 cups water

1 can yellow hominy

2/3 cup salsa (red or green will work; I prefer red)

2 cups skinless, shredded rotisserie chicken

1 lime for serving

Chop onion and cilantro set aside. When chopping cilantro, I just keep it as a bunch, chop the stems off where the leaves end and then chop that part, including stems. Some people take the time to pick off leaves, but not me. That takes forever. Stems are fine in the soup.

In a medium pot, heat oil and add onion and cumin and cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add cilantro, broth, enchilada sauce, water, hominy, salsa and cook 5 minutes. While that cooks, shred your chicken and then add it to the pot and cook 5 more minutes.

Note: the easiest way to shred is pull of the skin, pull the chicken off the bone and shred it by hand. I always save the skin and bones for stock. You can freeze that if you won’t have time to make it this week. I find two birds boiled together makes a better stock anyway.

Serve with a lime wedge. If you want add more vegetables, you can serve this with chopped avocado and tomatoes.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 220; 24 g protein; 19 carbs; 1,175 ml sodium

Chicken, Bacon, Sundried Tomato Pizza

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I have a hankering for pizza lately. I think it’s this cold weather, it’s comfort food. This is an excellent pizza that you can make for lunch or dinner or even as an appetizer for a party. It’s great with red wine or beer. This comes together quickly and is easy, so it’s great for a weeknight dinner.

Chicken, Bacon Pizza with Sundried Tomatoes

1 ready made pizza dough (Stonefire is my favorite brand)

Pizza sauce, desired amount

1 cup chopped, skinless rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup real bacon pieces (store bought it what I used)

1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1 1/3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese (or desired amount)

Fresh basil to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread pizza sauce over dough. Top with chicken, bacon and sundried tomatoes.

Top with cheese and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

Remove and garnish with slices of fresh basil.

My nephew doesn’t like any pizza other than cheese and he ate four slices of this, so that was a huge compliment. My dad loved it, too, but he loves bacon.

This pizza is easy, great for a quick dinner or parties. Serve with or without fresh basil.  Delicious!

Light version of Chicken, Corn Chowder

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I am looking out the window and it’s gray outside today and going to snow later. What a perfect day for chowder. I adore this version of my chowder because it’s light. I use milk instead of heavy cream. It’s chicken, corn and potato. My daughter and husband both love it.

Light Chicken, Corn Chowder

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 large yellow onion

3 stalks celery

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1 large Russet potato

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 cups whole milk

1 can creamed corn

1 can corn

2 cups chopped rotisserie chicken breast

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop onion, celery, potato and set aside.  I don’t peel the potato.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in large pot over medium heat. When hot, add onions and celery and cook 2 minutes. Then add flour and cook 5 minutes. Add potato, salt, stock and bay leaf and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to strong simmer and add milk and corn and cook about 12 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Add chicken at the last minute just to heat through.

The vegetables should still be slightly crunchy. This lighter version of chowder uses milk instead of half and half or cream but it’s still packed with flavor.  It’s an excellent soup and easy to make.

Mexican Lasagna

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Mexican Lasagna

1 package soft yellow corn tortillas (you will not use them all)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 very large yellow onion

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons cumin seed

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 can seasoned black beans, drained

4 cups chopped skinless rotisserie chicken (1 whole chicken or 2 if just use breast meat)

2 ¾ cups chunky salsa or picante sauce (that’s more than a regular size jar, so buy a big jar or two regular ones)

Dash of garlic salt

½ cup cilantro (optional)

3 1/2- 4 cups of shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack cheese blend (or Mexican- cheese blend)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Note: This calls for 4 cups of rotisserie chicken, which is the whole chicken. If you don’t like dark meat and want only white, you will need to buy two chickens and just use the breast off both.

This makes a large batch (13” x 9” pan), but the recipe can easily be halved. This is an economical dish when entertaining and absolutely delicious. This lasagna explodes with flavor.

Helpful hint: If you’re watching your weight, you can use less cheese in this dish by skipping the middle layer of cheese.  This has such powerful flavors, you really won’t miss it too much (and if you don’t try it that way, you won’t even know what you’re missing).

Directions:

Put onion through a food processor and chop bell peppers and set aside.

If you plan to use cilantro, gather the leaves in a bunch and cut off stems at the base of where the leaves start. Chop the leaves and set aside.

Chop your chicken and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onion, cumin powder and cumin seed and cook 6 minutes.  Then add chopped bell peppers and cook 2 minutes. Stir in beans, chicken, salsa, dash of garlic salt and cook 2 minutes.  If you plan to add cilantro, stir it in now. Turn off heat and let mixture rest.

Spray a 13” x 9″ pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with corn tortillas, overlapping in spots so that the bottom is covered. I tear tortillas into desired sizes to make them fit. You will not use the entire package, you just want enough to make layers.

Take half your chicken mixture and spread it evenly over the first layer of tortillas.  Top that mixture with about 40 percent of your cheese. You want a little extra cheese on top. Then repeat and make another layer or tortillas over the mixture. Make sure it’s all covered, even if you overlap tortillas. Then top that with the rest of the chicken mixture. Cover chicken with remaining cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Slice and serve. I hope you enjoy this; I absolutely love it.